give the sparkling hues of their inflorescence, though it can 

 their graceful habits and varied colours. They are all na- 

 tives of the Himalaya and of its colder regions, though not 

 attaining the alpine zone of vegetation. Several species 

 inhabit the Nilghiri mountains, of which two, 0. corymbosa 

 (Tab. nostr. 4489) and 0. umbellata (t. 5397), have flowered 

 at Kew. Most, if not all, the species are annual, and have 

 bitter roots, whence their popular use as febrifuges by the 

 natives of India, under the names of Chirita, Chiryta, Chi- 

 rayta, and Chirata, as it is indifferently spelt. 



0. alata has been found hitherto in the north-west Hima- 

 laya only. 0. angustifolia, which inhabits a lower elevation 

 than the others (2000-6000 feet), is found throughout the 

 range ; it is a very variable plant, especially in the size and 

 length of the calyx-lobes, which sometimes far exceed the 

 corolla. 0. paniculata inhabits temperate regions, from 

 Kumaon to Sikkim. 



Desck. The species may be most easily distinguished as 

 follows : — 0. alata, by the four-winged stem and broad ovate 

 or subcordate leaves, greenish-yellow corolla with red-purple 

 spots, and nectary almost surrounded with a fimbriate ridge. 

 0. angustifolia, by the more terete stem, narrow leaves, 

 flowers on slender pedicels, four-parted corolla, whose lobes 

 are purple and spotted with blue, and the nectary is orbi- 

 cular with a tongue-shaped scale at its upper margin. 0. 

 paniculata, by its obscurely angled stem, narrow leaves, and 

 usually five-parted corolla, whose lobes are white, with a 

 semilunar purple-violet band about the middle. — J. I). H. 



Fig. 1. O. data. 2. Corolla lobe,— magnified. 3. O. angustifolia. 4 

 Corolla lobe, — magnified. 5. O. paniculata. 6. Corolla lobe, — magnified. 



